Chirinkotan

Russia

48.98°N, 153.48°E; summit elev. 724 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)

SVERT reported that a thermal anomaly over Chirinkotan was observed in satellite images on 21 January. Cloud cover obscured views during 22-27 January. The Aviation Color Code remained at Yellow.

Geologic Background. The small, mostly unvegetated 3-km-wide island of Chirinkotan occupies the far end of an E-W volcanic chain that extends nearly 50 km W of the central part of the main Kuril Islands arc. It is the emergent summit of a volcano that rises 3000 m from the floor of the Kuril Basin. A small 1-km-wide caldera about 300-400 m deep is open to the SW. Lava flows from a cone within the breached crater reached the shore of the island. Historical eruptions have been recorded since the 18th century. Lava flows were observed by the English fur trader Captain Snow in the 1880s.